


Carry On, Hyunjin

by whosbrian



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Fluff, M/M, big book nerds yay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26504455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whosbrian/pseuds/whosbrian
Summary: In which Hyunjin's book shopping session doesn't exactly go as planned.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin, there's some jilix if you squint hard enough
Comments: 18
Kudos: 87





	Carry On, Hyunjin

**Author's Note:**

> hi!
> 
> quick disclaimer before you start reading, this was totally inspired by rainbow rowell's novel carry on and it will be referenced throughout the story, so if you haven't read it you might not get all the references but it should not keep you from understanding the story as whole! and when you're done with this you should definitely go read carry on hehe
> 
> now back to your regularly scheduled fluff!

Hyunjin was about to lose it.

He had been rummaging through the bookstore for ages; had gone through every single aisle; had searched by author, by genre AND by alphabetical order. He knew the book was there, and yet. 

He. Couldn't. FIND IT.

Still not giving up, he readjusted the already impressive pile of books in his arms before heading once again for the teen fiction aisle, cursing under his breath. He had waited so long to finally gather the money for all the novels he had been craving, especially this one. He  _ would _ find it, even if it took him hours. 

Starting from the entrance of the section, he examined every single book on the shelves with attention. Slowly but surely making his way towards the end of the alphabet, he spotted a couple of other books he had considered buying, but he let them pass before him with a sigh, knowing he had already reached the highest point of his budget. Or at least, he  _ would  _ be reaching the top of his budget, if he managed to find this  _ last fucking book. _

It seemed his torture was coming to an end, because as he entered the very last row of the fiction area, he saw one of the store’s employees carefully placing the yellow novel in an empty spot of the R shelf. Hyunjin let out a deep sigh of relief. 

“Thank fuck,” he muttered before speeding up his pace to get the book and leave the store at last. 

The thing is, Hyunjin had a tendency to create small disasters wherever he went. He therefore wasn’t very surprised when, in his haste, he tripped over a lump in the store’s old carpet and dropped the first and biggest book of his pile. He could only stare in horror as the pointy edges of the novel landed on the poor employee’s foot with a  _ thump _ . The man let out a string of curses, jumping on his uninjured foot and picking up the book to put it back on Hyunjin’s stack with a frown.

Hyunjin was mortified. “ I’m so sorry! Are you alright? I’m so sorry I was running and there was a lump in the carpet and I tripped and I-”

“I’m… fine,” the employee cut him with a huff, annoyed. He stopped jumping and stood on both feet again. “Why were you running in a fucking bookstore? It’s not like they’ll disappear if you walk.”

“Actually, they might, because I’ve been searching for the book you just put on the shelf for 45 minutes and I haven’t found it until now! It was listed on your website but I couldn’t find it anywhere on the shelves, I  _ really _ thought it disappeared or that it was flying away from me or something-”

Hyunjin stopped his ramblings mid sentence, because one, he realized how  _ fucking stupid _ he sounded talking about flying books, and two, he had just properly looked at the employee’s face and, well, he was  _ very _ cute. Even if he stared back at him like he was a madman.

_ How does one look that good in a uniform that orange, I wonder? _

The cute employee turned to look at the book he had just placed on the shelf. His expression softened.

“ _Wayward Son_ , huh? Your mishaps might be my fault then. I’m the one who bought the last displayed copy an hour ago before starting my shift.” He gave Hyunjin a sheepish grin, scratching his head, and the latter swore his heart did a tiny flip because _damn_ was that guy cute.

“Oh.” He wanted to say it was fine, since he felt bad for hurting the guy, but it truly wasn’t. He had spent almost an  _ hour _ searching for this stupid volume to no avail, and he was still angry about it. Choosing a middle ground, he asked; “So, you’ve read  _ Carry On _ ?”

The employee's grin turned into a wide smile. He nodded vigorously. “So many times I could probably quote the entire thing. You have too, I suppose?”

Hyunjin gave a hum of approval. “I read a lot, obviously,” he said, hoisting up his pile of books to demonstrate, “but  _ Carry On _ really felt special. I’ve never connected with a character as much as I connected with Baz. The guy is literally me.” He giggled. “Well, I’m Baz, minus being a vampire and god-like handsome.”

The bookstore employee laughed (to which Hyunjin’s heart did yet another flip) and eyed Hyunjin, properly checking him out. He grinned. “I can’t tell for sure about the vampire part, but I can definitely tell that you match him in terms of being handsome.” 

_ Oh _ .

Heat rose to Hyunjin’s cheeks. The employee laughed yet again and held out his hand.

“Hi. I’m Seungmin.”

“Hyunjin,” the other huffed out, still blushing furiously. He stuck out his hand as much as he could without making yet another book fall from his pile to shake Seungmin’s. “So, hum, are you more of a Baz or a Simon? I mean, you match them for being handsome too, you know.” Hyunjin internally cringed at his horrible flirting skills, turning even redder than before, while Seungmin just giggled, softly shaking his head.

“Other than being a gay disaster, I’m honestly not that similar to either of them. I’m more of a Bunce, actually.”

“For the school genius part or the plan master part?”

“While I’d like to think it’s for both, I honestly suck at planning things ahead, so mostly for the genius part.” He grinned even wider. “I try to match her in terms of loyalty too, but you’d have to ask my friends to testify.”

_ That guy just gets cuter by the second, what the fuck _ , Hyunjin thought. The smaller boy had a passionate glint in his eyes, one that definitely matched Hyunjin’s own whenever he talked about books, which, frankly, didn’t happen half as often as he would’ve liked. Granted, he was on many book forums and he was part of Simon Snow twitter, but having an actual person, in front of him, talking about his favorite characters and plot lines? He had so rarely experienced that, and it had never been as nice and natural as it currently was with Seungmin. The other’s enthusiastic voice and laugh were  _ definitely _ making their way up the list of Hyunjin’s favorite sounds of all times.

Just like that, the two boys talked and talked, completely focused on each other, not caring about the passing of time or, in Hyunjin’s case, the heavy pile of books weighing down his arms.

∼

Hyunjin was stopped in the middle of an enthusiastic speech about Rowell’s magical universe by the very ( _very_ ) loud ringing of his cellphone. He gave Seungmin an apologetic smile and, balancing his book pile on one arm to fish his phone from his jean pocket, he swiped to answer the call, cutting _Not By The Moon_ halfway through the first verse.

“Hey Jisung, what’s up?”

“ _ The fuck do you mean, _ what’s up _? _ ” Hyunjin’s best friend replied, mocking his tone. “ _ I sent you at least fifteen texts that you didn’t even read AND you were supposed to be home half an hour ago. I thought aliens abducted you while you were buying your stupid books. _ ”

“Oh.” Hyunjin checked the heavy clock hanging on the wall before him and read 17:38. He hadn’t realized he had been talking with Seungmin for that long. “Sorry man, I didn’t see the time. I… got distracted,” he said while shooting a shy smile to Seungmin. The younger boy returned it with a giggle. (Hyunjin wished he would have the chance to get used to hearing that giggle.)

“ _I don’t care,_ ” Jisung whined, “ _just come home already. Felix insists that we wait for you before eating dinner and I’m fucking starving. This_ _annoying angel._ ” Hyunjin could hear a mix of pout and infatuation in the other’s voice. He laughed.

“Alright, let me go pay and I’ll be right there.” He hung up and looked back to Seungmin. “Sorry about that. It was my roommate. I have to go home or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“That’s fine,” he replied, “we’re closing in twenty minutes anyway.”

The two boys stared at each other over Hyunjin’s impressive book stack, smiling softly. For a couple of minutes, they stayed put, not wanting to part ways just yet. 

Finally, Hyunjin cleared his throat and readjusted his pile.

“Well, Seungmin, it was great meeting you.” He paused before adding, looking down at his novels. “Sorry again about your foot.”

“It was nice meeting you too, Hyunjin,” the younger replied, his smile playful, “though I doubt a simple sorry will heal my still very pained foot. It’ll take more than that to be forgiven.”

Hyunjin raised an amused eyebrow at him.

“Oh? What will I need to do for you to forgive me, Mister Bunce?”

Seungmin crossed his arms over his chest and scratched his chin, pretending to ponder his options, though his grin betrayed that he already had a plan in mind.

“How does a date sound? Not too much to ask from you, Mister Baz?”

Hyunjin’s smile widened as he giggled, his eyes turning into crescents.

“It sounds lovely.”

“Great,” Seungmin replied, beaming. His eyebrows then raised in enlightenment, and he grabbed the still opened phone in the older’s free hand, their fingers brushing. He typed on the dirty screen for a few seconds before placing it back into a softly blushing Hyunjin’s hand. He pointed at the device before explaining, practically bouncing from excitement: “I sent myself a text so we would have each other’s number. That way we can plan this redemption date.”

Hyunjin chuckled at the name and looked down at his phone to see a simple “hi!” text from his new contact  _ Seungminie<3\.  _ He placed the device back in his pocket. 

He started walking backwards not to break eye contact and threw Seungmin a tiny wave, careful not to drop his books again. “I’ll call you after dinner to plan our date if that’s ok with you. Easier than by text.”

“That works for me. Then you can also finish telling me about that other series you’re falling for. I think I’ll like it.” 

Hyunjin gave an enthusiastic nod before turning to walk normally towards the counter. He had made it to the end of the aisle when he heard Seungmin call his name, followed by hurried footsteps coming his way. Glancing back, he saw the younger holding the blue and yellow  _ Wayward Son  _ copy he had been searching for all afternoon. 

Hyunjin would’ve slapped himself if his hands hadn’t been so full.

“I can’t believe I was about to leave without it,” he breathed out, embarrassed.

“ _ I _ can’t believe you forgot the one thing you dropped a book on my foot for.” __

Hyunjin felt himself blush once again. “Thank you, Seungmin. I owe you one.”

“Oh, but you already do, pretty boy,” the other replied with a cheeky grin and a wink before walking back to where he had previously been working. 

Hyunjin watched the smaller boy go, his heart warm. Gosh, he really wanted to stay longer, but Jisung would skin him alive if he did. Chewing on his bottom lip, he stared at the employee before screaming out. 

“Seungmin!”

The mentioned raised his head from the book he was looking at.

“Thank you.”

Seungmin giggled. “You’ve already said that, Hyunjin.”

“I know. I just wanted to make sure you remembered. Thank you for today. It was great.”

The other smiled wide once again, illuminating the whole store. At least, that’s how Hyunjin felt.

“Alright, enough with being cheesy. Go pay for your books now,” Seungmin said. “Don’t leave your roommate hanging for another hour.” He threw him a wave from the end of the aisle, still smiling. “Carry on, Hyunjin.”

**Author's Note:**

> hello again!
> 
> to you reading this, THANK YOU! every single click means the world to me and i'm truly grateful that you gave my little story some of your time
> 
> special thanks to kiera, as always, for being the best and proofreading this, i love you♡
> 
> i'm working on some more tiny drabbles right now, i know i'm slow but they're coming so stay tuned for that!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/leeminhoelic)


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